The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Eupatorium plant, botanically known as Eupatorium purpureum, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Baby Joe’.
The new Eupatorium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new strong and compact Veronica cultivars with healthy foliage and attractive flower coloration.
The new Eupatorium originated from a cross-pollination of two unnamed selections of Eupatorium purpureum, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Eupatorium purpureum, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Eupatorium was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands in September, 2003.
Asexual reproduction of the new Eupatorium by cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rijpwetering, The Netherlands since June, 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Eupatorium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.